Installation Instructions

ManualsBrandsSafe Home ManualsPlumbingStarter 10 Drinking Water Test Kit

WATER QU

ALIT

TES

KITS

DO IT Y

OURSELF

INSTRUCTIONS

for the following Test Kits:

STARTER (15)

STARTER (20)

STARTER (10)

DO IT YOURSELF

Safe & Easy to Use • At Home Testing • Immediate Results

PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING

With Safe Home®, it's more than just testing your water—

it's an educational experience!

DO IT YOURSELF

WATER QUALITY

TEST KIT

• Safe Home® test kits are safe & easy to use but are not intended for

use by children, without direct adult supervision. Do not ingest or

misuse any items in this kit. If improper contact occurs with any testing

mechanism and it causes you to feel unwell, consult a physician.

Go to EnviroTestKits.com to learn more.

• Safe Home® has marked each contaminant to be tested, based on USEPA

guidelines — *EPA Primary Regulated Contaminant, **EPA Secondary

Regulated Contaminant, (Contaminant of Interest).

• Safe Home® provides USEPA Maximum Contaminant Levels on each color chart

(when applicable) for informational purposes only. Contaminant concentrations

below MCL’s do not guarantee the degree of safety for all who use the water.

• Safe Home® strives for the best in DIY testing. It’s a great place to start.

However, at times, due to limitations such as background interferences that

are out of our (or your) control, values may show bias or be inconclusive.

• Safe Home® offers enhanced kits for testing at our EPA Certiﬁed Lab, with

quality controls against background interferences for over 200 contaminants.

You may go to EnviroTestKits.com to sign-up for an account, Free.

• Safe Home’s test volume is important. Unless stated otherwise, select a cup

that holds about 250 ml of water (8.5 ﬂuid ounces). Rinse your cup after

each test. When testing from a faucet, draw from the cold-water tap.

• Safe Home® issues instructions to enhance your experience in testing. It is

very important that you read each set of instructions COMPLETELY before

starting the test. This will beneﬁt you in avoiding possible errors.

• Parts Per Million = ppm or mg/L (milligrams of contaminant per Liter of water).

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

Getting Started

STARTER (15)

STARTER (20)

STARTER (10)

a) 15 foil pouches

containing 19 tests

b) 1 vial (4") with white

tamper-evident cap

for *Bacteria test

c) 1 small vial (2.25")

for Phosphate test

d) 1 vial

for *Pesticides & *Lead test

e) 1 eye dropper

for *Pesticides & *Lead test

f ) Starter (20)

color chart

g) These instructions

a) 10 foil pouches

containing 14 tests

b) 1vial (4") with white

tamper-evident cap

for *Bacteria test

c) Starter (15)

color chart

d) These instructions

a) 6 foil pouches

containing 10 tests

b) Starter (10)

color chart

c) These instructions

x 6

ba c

x 10

ba c d

f g

x 15

ba c d e

*Bacteria— Coliform, including E. Coli

1. Wash your hands before starting. Remove the test vial (4") with the white

tamper-evident cap from the test kit box.

2. Turn on cold water tap and allow it

to run for about 5 minutes and then

reduce the ﬂow to about the diam-

eter of a pencil. Remove the white

cap completely. Tilt the vial slightly

and slowly ﬁll the vial to the 25 mL

mark. It is best to not go above this

mark. DO NOT overflow the vial

(may create invalid results).

3. Replace the cap tightly. Shake well,

until the media inside the vial is

dissolved completely. Set the vial

in an upright position and on a

ﬂat surface.

4. Incubate your water sample between (70 ℉ – 105 ℉ or 21 ℃ – 40 ℃),

indoors or outdoors but out of direct sunlight. A temperature of 95.5 ℉ /

35.3 ℃ is best.

5. After proper incubation time has

elapsed and results are evident,

without opening the vial, observe

the color of the liquid. Presence

of bacteria can occur as fast as *24

hours (*speed of results may vary).

Yellow = Absent

(negative result for coliform bacteria).

Note: As long as the sample inside

the vial is clear-to-yellow, allow

incubation to continue for up to

72 hours to confirm the absence

of bacteria.

Teal or Blue/Green = Present

(positive result for coliform bacteria).

This could include E. coli.

6. When test is complete, open vial and discard liquid into toilet. Place a

few drops of household bleach into the vial, cap it, shake it and once again

discard the contents into the toilet. Recap the vial. Place in a trash can.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water.

Yellow

ABSENCE

of harmful

bacteria

PRESENCE

of harmful

bacteria

Teal

*Pesticides & *Lead

1. Taking the foil pouch marked

Pesticides & Lead, remove the

vial, eye dropper, Pesticide test

strip (blue) and Lead test strip

(yellow) from the package. The

desiccant can be discarded.

Conduct both tests at

the same time.

2. Place EXACTLY

two droppers-full

of water into the

small vial provided

in this kit.

3. Gently swirl the

water in the vial

for several seconds.

Place the vial

on a ﬂat surface.

4. Place BOTH test

strips into the vial,

with the arrows

pointing DOWN.

Allow the vial to

sit undisturbed

for 10 MINUTES.

5. Remove the strips and place them on

a ﬂat surface with the arrows pointing

TO THE LEFT. Blue lines will have

appeared on the strips.

If the LEFT line (next to #1) is DARKER

than the RIGHT line (next to #2), the

test is NEGATIVE (no contamination).

Note: Due to variations in manufacturing,

some strips will display more than one

numeral, as in the diagram below.

If the RIGHT line (next to #2) is DARKER

than the LEFT line (near #1) or EQUALLY

DARK, the test is POSITIVE, and contam-

ination is likely above EPA Standards:

(Lead 0.015 ppm, Pesticides – Atrazine

0.003 ppm or Simazine 0.004 ppm).

Safe Home’s 1-2-3 Step Program Makes You

the Family’s Drinking Water Expert!

GET STARTED by using a Safe Home

DIY Test Kit

to screen your water supply.

CONFIRMATION TESTING allows you to purchase an enhanced

Safe Home

test kit to confirm contaminant concentrations with

testing from our EPA Certified Water Testing Lab

at EnviroTestKits.com.

FREE RESOURCES provide you with solutions to contaminant

problems and you can learn about more than 200 contaminants

in drinking water at EnviroTestKits.com/Resources.

LEAD

∙

LEAD

∙

1 1

2 2

PESTICIDE PESTICIDE

1 1

2 2

POSITIVE FOR

CONTAMINATION

LEAD ∙ Pb ∙ LEAD ∙ Pb

2 2

PESTICIDE PESTICIDE

1 1

2 2

NEGATIVE FOR

CONTAMINATION

LEAD ∙ Pb ∙ LEAD ∙ P b

1 1

2 2

PESTICIDE PESTICIDE

1 1

2 2

Test Strip Handling

TESTING TERMINOLOGY

TEST STRIP TYPES

Three types of dip tests are used throughout the testing process for the different contaminants—

Padded Test Strips (2a), Aperture Test Strips (2b), and Line Test Strips (2c). Before conducting

each individual test, determine the type of test strip being used, for it will affect the color matching

technique. Always be sure to grasp the handle end of the test strip.

2a. Padded Test Strip

Color change on the surface

of the test pads indicates

contaminant level.

2c. Line Test Strip

Blue lines will appear

in different places on

the test strip, indicating

a positive or negative

test result.

2b. Aperture Test Strip

After removing from water,

fold strip at mid-point, back and

under the aperture for a white

viewing background and more

accurate color reading.

FRESHLY DRAW MEDIA CONDITIONING

DESICCANTINCUBATION TIMEINTERFERENCES

Collect a new water

sample for each test.

Physical or chemical

factors that can cause

errors in test results.

Time needed for a

reaction to occur to

determine the presence

or absence of bacteria.

Object in the package

that absorbs moisture

and preserves the

testing supplies.

A substance that assists

in determining the

presence or absence

of a contaminant.

Stabilizes the water

sample to provide

a more accurate

test value.

2 2

Conducting Water Quality Tests

The first TEN contaminants listed are included in test kits STARTER (10), STARTER (15), STARTER (20).

The first FIFTEEN contaminants listed are included in test kits STARTER (15), STARTER (20).

All TWENTY contaminants listed are included in test kit STARTER (20).

= Aperture Test Strip

= Padded Test Strip

= Line Test Strip

= EPA Primary Regulated

Contaminant

= EPA Secondary Regulated

Contaminant

( )

= EPA Contaminant

of Interest

KEY

4in1

**pH (Total Alkalinity)

(Total Chlorine) (Total Hardness)

5 seconds wait 10 seconds

**Iron, Fe

**Copper, Cu

+1+2

2in1

*Nitrite as N *Nitra

te as N

**Sulfate

*Bacteria— Coliform,

including E. Coli

**Silver

Conditioner 1 strip

20 seconds

Remove and discard Conditioner 1 strip

Silver test strip

10 seconds

wait 10 seconds

while waiting, fold strip’s handle

behind its aperture (view 2b)

*Mercury

60 seconds

wait 30 seconds

while waiting, fold strip’s handle

behind its aperture (view 2b)

(Phosphate)

Phosphate strip

20 seconds

Remove and discard Phosphate strip

Vial

wait 40 seconds;

place the sample vial on

the color chart’s white

circles; viewing from the

top, slide vial from one

circle to the next until the

best color match is found.

*Pesticides

*Lead

FIRST, condition the water with Conditioner 1 strip.

THEN, test the water with the Silver test trip.

FIRST, fill the small vial (2.25") to the top line with water and place the color chart on a flat surface.

THEN, dip the Phosphate strip into the vial and follow the directions below.

with a gentle,

up & down

motion

1 second

wait 30 seconds

while waiting, fold strip’s handle

behind its aperture (view 2b)

while waiting, fold strip’s handle

behind its aperture (view 2b)

15 seconds

wait 30 seconds

10 seconds wait 20 seconds

**Total Dissolved Solids

2 seconds wait 10 seconds

*Hexavalent Chromium, Cr

2 seconds wait 30 seconds

(Free Chlorine)

20 seconds wait 20 seconds

**Zinc

3 seconds wait 20 seconds

**Chloride

10 seconds wait 30 seconds

2 seconds wait 60 seconds

within 10 seconds

within 15 seconds

within 20 seconds

within 45 seconds

within 15 seconds

within 20 seconds

within 10 seconds

within 60 seconds

Other oxidizers

POSSIBLE

INTERFERENCES

High levels of

other metals or

presence of

oxidizers such

as Chlorine

High levels of

other metals or

presence of

oxidizers such

as Chlorine

High levels

of metals

In rare cases, blue

lines won’t appear

on one or both test

strips, or the lines

will be very light.

This is caused by

uncontrollable

background inter-

ferences, rendering

the respective test

as inconclusive.

None Known

High levels of

other metals

None Known

High levels of

other metals

Other oxidizers

High levels of

other metals

High levels of

other metals

None Known

see next page for test instructions

Freshly draw

250 mL of water

into a clean cup

DRAW

STEP

Dip one strip into the

water for the speciﬁed

amount of time

with a gentle

back & forth

motion

without

motion

DIP

STEP

Remove strip from

water and wait for the

speciﬁed amount of time

shake once,

briskly to

remove

excess water

do not

shake

REMOVE

STEP

Match strip to

color chart within the

speciﬁed time frame

MATCH

STEP

Record the

contaminant

value

RECORD

STEP

Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
4 Conducting Water Quality Tests b) Starter (10) color chart c) These instructions x6 a b STEP KEY b) 1vial (4") with white tamper-evident cap i x 10 for *Bacteria test c) Starter (15) color chart d) These instructions * a b c d for Phosphate test a b d) 1 vial f ) Starter (20) color chart g) These instructions c d i f g 2 Test Strip Handling TEST STRIP TYPES Three types of dip tests are used throughout the testing process for the different contaminants— Padded Test Strips (2a),
PAGE 2
4 Análisis de Calidad del Agua Los primeros DIEZ contaminantes en la lista se incluyen en los kits de análisis BÁSICO (10), BÁSICO (15), BÁSICO ( 20). Los primeros QUINCE contaminantes en la lista se incluyen en los kits de análisis BÁSICO (15), BÁSICO ( 20). Los VEINTE contaminantes en la lista se incluyen en los kits de análisis BÁSICO ( 20).